Heads, Hands and Hearts

I’ve heard many, most recently Dirk Knemeyer, talk about how the Web is a clashing together of Art and Science. I think that’s accurate and I’m just fine working with a medium where both “heads” and “hands” hold value. Talib Kweli has a great line in his song “I Try”:

Life is a beautiful struggle
People search through the rubble for a suitable hustle
Some people usin’ the noodle, some people usin’ the muscle
Some people put it all together, yeah

The reason why I got into Web design and why I’ve kept (for the most part) happily at it for almost 10 years, is that I love creating things and expressing myself, and, I think just as (or more) importantly—I love working with people. As I’ve expressed many times before, I feel the Web isn’t about technology. It’s not about zeros and ones, blogs and content management systems. It’s about people, and communication. The Web is at it’s best when it’s bringing people together. Anything we can do to help facilitate that communication, whether it’s lovefests, flame wars or simply helping people get information they need to do their job, or better live their lives, should be done to the best of our ability.

Some times it feels like we’re both further along, and not as far as we should be. Either way, I think it’s safe to say we’re still experiencing growing pains. We’re all still learning, still exploring and hopefully still moving the Web forward as a force, not only for all the things we know it’s great for, but as a force for positive change in the world.

Sometimes the day-to-day things get lost in a sea of Venn diagrams, metaphors and semantic debates. We need to realize, again, that the Web is a very new medium and we’re struggling mightily right now to define that medium and get our minds about it. No one has all the answers. I like to say that once you feel you “get” the Web, you can be pretty damn sure you’ve got a lot to learn.

For me, as I’ve moved on, I’ve naturally progressed from using my “hands” to build the Web to using more of my “head”. This can be a hard transition for anyone, and it’s been like that for me. I don’t plan on completely abandoning my “handy” work, as I feel it’s important, even if my responsibilities lean away from it, to stay in touch with the crafting of the Web. We need heads and hands.

I’ll leave you with this thought:

It doesn’t matter too much if you are a “hands” person, a “head” person or, like me, a bit of both. What really matters, in everything you do, is your heart. If you’ve got a passion and a love for what you do, and are willing to work hard for it, you’ll do great things.

So with that, I’m going to get to enjoying my holidays. Posts will be infrequent for the next month and I may deviate from my schedule even if I do post. There are only so many hours in a day and I just don’t have much time to blog right now. I’ll still be around, just focused elsewhere. I’m sure you won’t mind.

ANYway, here’s to you, no matter what you do! Happy holidays folks! I’ll see you on the flip-side.